


Perchance to Dream

by pocky_slash



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dreams, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-25
Updated: 2011-07-25
Packaged: 2017-10-21 18:23:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/228225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pocky_slash/pseuds/pocky_slash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charles has a dream that wakes the whole house. Erik tries to assure him it's nothing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Perchance to Dream

**Author's Note:**

> For the following prompt at [xmen_firstkink](http://xmen-firstkink.livejournal.com): The divorce was all a bad dream. Literally. Charles projected his nightmare to everyone at the mansion.

It's like someone's taken over his body. Erik thrashes and screams, but he can't make himself turn around, can't make himself go back to Charles, bleeding on the beach, can't even take the helmet off to make Charles understand that he doesn't know why he's doing this, that yes, they disagree, but it doesn't have to come to this, that he doesn't want to leave Charles bleeding alone on a beach, that he would never take Raven away, not like this, he'd never ensure that Charles was without everyone he loved--

He rages and screams in his own head, but it's not enough. He takes Raven's hand and she says something to Hank and then they're gone in a flash. There's darkness and a pain in his shoulder and Raven saying, "Wake up, you bastard!"

And, strangely, he finds he can.

Erik opens his eyes. Raven is kneeling on the bed, thumping his shoulder with one fist and Charles' with the other. She looks aggravated and a little scared, but when Erik blinks she's gone and he's back on the beach. He opens his eyes again with a gasp when she punches him again.

"Help me wake him up!" she shouts, and Charles will probably have bruises tomorrow, roughly the shape of her fists. "He's dreaming and he's projecting to the whole damn house!"

A lot of things suddenly make sense, but even more are twice as confusing. Erik pushes it all out of his mind and focuses on waking Charles. Now that he knows what's going on, it's easy to distinguish the foreign thoughts in his mind, the nightmare (for that's all it could be, Charles in agony, he and Raven disappeared, the team in shambles, the sun beating down on all of them, stifling) he's feeling and what's actually going on in the room. Raven's on the bed and Hank and Alex are standing in the doorway, sleep-rumpled and blearily concerned. And getting an eyeful of Erik in bed with Charles. Wonderful. But that's a concern for later--one crisis at a time. Erik tries to untangle himself from Charles, to sit up and aid Raven in her attempts to rouse Charles. His leg is draped over Charles' hip and he rolls over, freeing Charles' legs and hips and pushing himself up.

"Charles!" he says, shaking him. "Charles!"

Raven sighs.

"Get back," she warns, and then pulls her arm back and slaps Charles' cheek. It's apparently the jolt he needs. The nightmare stops immediately and Charles chokes on a scream. He sits up, gasping, and only Erik and Raven's quick restraint keeps him from flailing his arms out.

"God," he gasps. "What--what--I--"

He breathes heavily and tries to move, but falters.

"I can't--I can't--my legs," Charles says and Erik rubs his shoulder.

"It's okay," he says. "It was a dream. It was--" A nightmare. An awful, painful nightmare. "It's not real."

Charles blinks once, twice, and something seems to settle. He takes a long, deep breath and closes his eyes. When he opens them again, the crazed look is gone.

"My legs are numb," he says sheepishly and looks at Erik. Erik shrugs. He gets cold. Charles radiates heat. It's a simple enough solution. "I'm terribly sorry, did I wake you?" He catches sight of the boys and bites his lip.

"You woke the whole house, Charles," Raven says. "You might have woken the whole county. I think you hit a few people in the Bronx."

Charles might be blushing or he might just be flushed from the nightmare. Either way, he won't look at either of them, scratching his nails on the duvet.

"Tell the children I apologize," he tells Raven. They stare at each other for a long moment and Erik can tell they're having a conversation. It's probably not even a telepathic one. Raven is the one who eventually concedes, leaning forward to hug Charles tightly and kiss his cheek.

"We're going to talk tomorrow," she tells him sternly. "No getting out of it."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Charles says. "Now go try and salvage a few hours of sleep. Tell the others they can sleep in tomorrow."

"Will do," Raven says. She climbs off the bed and gives Erik a look that very clearly says _Fix him_ before she leaves the room, shutting the door behind her.

Erik and Charles sit quietly in bed for a few long moments.

"Do you really think that?" Erik asks, finally. "That I would watch you fall, know that you're hurt and... leave you?"

"No," Charles says quickly. He pauses and amends, "I don't know. I know... I know you're going to kill Shaw. I know there's nothing I can do about it."

"You're right," Erik says. He can't bring himself to lie to Charles, not right now, not after that dream.

"And I can't help but think, if I can't do anything to stop you from killing Shaw, can I stop you from killing anyone else? From doing anything else? Can I stop you from leaving?"

Erik releases a long breath and takes Charles' hand. Their fingers slide together automatically. The gesture feels so familiar, so ingrained, that it's like they've been doing it for years, not months. For the first time in Erik's life, _everything_ feels familiar. He has a routine. He has a purpose. He has people who count on him and people to count on. And he has an incredibly arrogant, incredibly naive, incredibly noble, incredibly trusting--friend? Equal? Colleague? Lover?

Well. He has no word for Charles, but he has him.

His agenda hasn't changed. He will still seek his revenge on Klaus Schmidt. But, unless Schmidt kills him in the process, it's no longer his only goal. He wants to find more mutants. He wants to see the ones he's already scouted grow and thrive.

"We want the same things," he says finally, and Charles flinches. Erik curses his poor word choice and quickly says, "No, Charles, we do. We want to find mutants. We want to help them. We want to continue to instruct these children until they're completely aware of what they're capable of. We want a world where no one like us ever has to think they're alone." He pauses. "We want each other," he adds quietly, squeezing Charles' hand at the admission.

"Yes," Charles allows.

"Well, that's what's important, is it not?" Erik says. "I have no intention of leaving you, Charles. I have no intention of joining up with Shaw or taking over for Shaw. I want nothing to do with what he is or what he has, other than to make him pay for what he's done. And while your ideology and my own may be different--we have plenty of time to work it out. Don't we?"

He's tired. It was a long day, it's the middle of the night, and his muscles ache as if he really was on that beach, lifting a submarine, running through the sand.

"At least, we can sleep on it?" Erik adds hopefully when Charles says nothing. Charles laughs, softly.

"I'm sorry, my friend," he murmurs, lowering his head slowly to Erik's shoulder. "It was a dream. Nothing more. A dream borne of insecurity and failure and knowledge that I'm not being as receptive as I can be to those that I love." He gives Erik a self-deprecating smile.

"Exactly," Erik says. He sighs with relief. Sleep is, perhaps, within sight again.

"I'm going to have to talk to all of them, aren't I?" Charles says. He rubs at his eyes with a fist. "It's been a long time since I projected like that. I'll have to explain. And--well, it's frankly rather mortifying, the idea of the children seeing into my psyche like that. How will they ever take me seriously?" He yawns as he says it, eyelids already drooping.

"We'll talk about it in the morning," Erik tells him.

"We'll have lots of mornings," Charles murmurs, sliding back down into his pillows again.

"Of course we will," Erik assures him. "But let's start with this one. And getting there. By sleeping."

But Charles, damn him, is already breathing slowly and evenly, curled on his side towards Erik.

Erik sighs again, shaking his head as he pulls the blankets back up to his shoulders. He hopes Charles sleeps a little easier. For all their sakes, of course, but mostly because he (sleepily, secretly, sappily) thinks that Charles deserves it.


End file.
